The present invention relates generally to neurobiology and behavioral biology and more specifically to methods for increasing cognitive function.
A variety of factors, such as sleep deprivation aging and certain neurodegenerative diseases, can have adverse effects on cognitive performance. Recent research shows that exercise can counteract the detrimental effects of these conditions on memory function. Physical activity has been shown to improve spatial learning in rodents. In addition, physical activity increased synaptic plasticity in the adult rodent hippocampus, a brain area important for learning and memory, using long-term potentiation as an electrophysiological model of learning and memory.
Enhanced learning and synaptic plasticity are correlated with an increase in new nerve cells in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, one of the few brain areas where new neurons are generated in adult mammals, including humans. Although the functional significance of new neurons in the adult brain is not clear, enhanced production of new cells has been associated with improved learning and vice versa. The molecular mechanisms underlying neurogenesis remain largely unknown and effective therapies are not currently available to improve neurodegeneration and the decrease in cognitive impairment that is associated with neuronal degeneration.
Thus, there exists a need for compounds and methods that enhance neurogenesis and improve cognitive performance including memory and learning in mammals. The present invention satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.